94 E Monte Vista Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA

1920 | The Salim Ackel House

Salim Ackel was a Syrian immigrant, businessman and local mover and shaker. He arrived in the valley in 1892 where he grew a small supply business into a successful emporium known as the Phoenix Seed and Feed Company. He built the Jefferson Hotel in 1915 (now known as the Barrister Building) at the corner of Central and Jefferson. (AKA The Psycho Building because the opening scene of Psycho was filmed there.)

In 1920 he built a large home — over 5,000 sq. ft. — in Phoenix’s Alvarado Neighborhood. This unique home is described on the National Register of Historic Places as “Neo-Colonial, with significant design reference to Italian Renaissance and Prairie School detailing.” You can see the neo-colonial aspect in the symmetrical 2-story facade, the Italian influence is evident in the balustrades and details and Prairie Style in the strong horizontals and deep overhangs. The Ackel home was, in its day, one of the showplaces in Phoenix — where the elite went to dance the night away!

National Register of Historic Places: Statement of Significance

Ackel, Salim House Description

The Ackel house is a square (42'x45') two and one-half story house constructed of glazed brick and topped by a broad-hipped, red-tiled roof with gablets on the three primary facades. The roof has deep wooden soffits featuring paired scrolled brackets and heavy molded eaves detailed with a hidden gutter. Each primary facade also has an extending one-story porch. Each porch features square brick piers, decorative brackets, red tile pent roofs and heavy cast balustrades. An original two-story frame projection to the rear of the house featured a sleeping porch on the second level which has since been enclosed.

Second story windows are wood framed 9 over 1 light double-hung with craftsman design, paired and grouped by plaster surrounds featuring raised keystones which are centered on flat lintels. The second story sills are tied together by a continuous plaster band course. Most of the first-story windows are paired one over one light wood double-hung, again with plaster surrounds and raised keystones in flat lintels. The front door is flush with Craftsman detailing.

With a total square footage of over 4000 square feet, the interior of the house has 19 rooms plus a basement. On the second floor are five bedrooms, two sitting rooms, a hobby room and two baths; while on the first floor are a formal entry, living room and dining room plus a kitchen and informal dining area, a bedroom, sitting room and two baths. An original central stair connects the two stories.

The primary architectural detailing and superior craftsmanship occur in the formal entry, living, and dining spaces. These areas include quarter-sawn oak paneling and oak-faced beams, 12-foot high ceilings, wooden pocket doors, built-in cabinets with leaded glass inserts, elaborate crown moldings, window detailing and hardwood floors.

The overall massing of the house is decidedly NeoColonial but the details are derived from Italian Renaissance designs. The horizontal banding, glazed tile, and grouping of the windows indicated some influence from Prairie
School examples.

The house faces south and is centrally located on a large lot (127'x200'). Other features of the property include a swimming pool (non-contributing) and a six-car detached garage. The garage is of similar style and construction to the house and is a contributing element to the historic property. The house retains a high level of integrity both externally and internally, with the woodwork of the living room/dining room being exceptional.


Narrative Statement of Significance

The Salim Ackel House is located in the Alvarado Historic District, an elite residential area that developed in the 1920s and 1930s on the outskirts of central Phoenix. It is now within the city's central core, near the Heard Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum. The elegant character of the historic neighborhood remains-well-manicured mature landscaping, low-scale ornamental street lights, landscaped medians, and a mixture of early 20th century architecural styles, reflecting the affluence of the period.

Phoenix was changing in the post-World War I period and the Salim Ackel House is representative of trends and patterns of residential subdivision development in Phoenix from the 1920s to the 1940s. Phoenix was the largest urban center in Arizona, having surpassed Tucson by that time. The population was booming because of Roosevelt Dam with water storage and increased agriculture. Successful campaigns were promoting the city as the garden spot of the Southwest. Population influx and the increased prosperity was soon reflected in residential patterns and architecture.-of Phoenix.

Salim Ackel was born in Syria and came to the United States and Arizona in 1891. For four years, he peddled notions to the mining camps in southern Arizona, then moved to Phoenix in 1895 where he soon opened a small grocery store on South Second Street then expanded with a dry goods business. In 1907, he built a dry goods store building at 16 East Washington. Ackel also began early to acquire land, some 600 acres. About 1914, he built the multi-story Jefferson Hotel (also known as the Ackel Building) at Central and Jefferson. As his mercantile and land-owning interests continued to prosper, Ackel's home changed from the modest cottage which, as a bachelor, he had built in 1900 to the palatial family home at 94 East Monte Vista. The Monte Vista area was one of Phoenix's most exclusive residential districts and Ackel's new home was considered one of the show places of Phoenix.

The Ackel family lived in the home from 1920 until 1937 when Ackel took over management of the Jefferson Hotel from 1937-1951 and made the hotel his home. The next owner was Dr. Fred Holmes, a prominent local physician who is remembered especially for his work with tubercular patients. Dr. Holmes sold the property in 1952 to Jean and Charles W. Gardiner, also prominent second-generation Phoenicians. Gardiner's father, John J. Gardiner, was an early entrepreneur with flour mill, water works, and a hotel; and Mrs. Gardiner was a daughter of Duncan MacDonald, pioneer Phoenix builder who developed the Arcadia District and much of the Camelback Mountain area. MacDonald Drive is named for him.

94 East Monte Vista Road, Phoenix, AZ, USA

The Salim Ackel House was built in 1920 and is located at 94 E. Monte Vista Street in Phoenix, AZ. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, reference number 94000574